Claude Puel described the timing of the rumour's surfacing as strange.

Claude Puel has questioned rumours linking captain Jose Fonte with a move to Old Trafford at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, here quoted by Sky Sports.

Fonte has been linked with a move to Manchester United, with The Timesthe first to report the news, whilst links have intensified over recent days as the Mirror report that Arsenal have joined the race to sign the Euro 2016 winner.

But the Southampton manager has called into question reports linking his leading defender with a move away from St. Mary's to the North West, citing their emergence just days before the Saints are due to take on the Red Devils in the Premier League.

Puel said, via Sky Sports: "There is no problem with Jose [Fonte] but it is strange that this rumour comes up just before the game that he might go to United.

"But there is no problem with Jose. He is a very good professional and he has trained well this week. It is important to have Jose with us and I hope to have him against United."

Jose Fonte won the European Championships with Portugal earlier this summer

Fonte joined the Saints way back in January 2010 for as little as £1.2 million, at a time when the Saints were languishing in League One.

The Portuguese international has been an ever-present figure at the club throughout their rise back up through the leagues to England's top table, and he is now set to form a key part of the south coast club's defence as they venture into Europe for only the eighth time in their history.

Peter Rutzler

Peter is a Cambridge undergrad claiming to be studying for a History degree, despite spending a disproportionate amount of time watching and writing about football. He has written extensively for other sites and currently co-hosts a football radio show. A disillusioned Forest fan, he finds Leicester's remarkable rise deeply distressing and he sleeps next to a copy of 'I Believe in Miracles' to help numb the pain. He also owns his own football club, AFC Whitton. So he's a bit like Roman Abramovich, but swamped in student debt.